Week 7: Reading Diary A

Week 7 Unit: Tibetan Folk Tales

How the Rabbit Killed the Lion.

• the lesson: to your foe do not give a promise, for he carries a sword
• meaning: don't trust your enemy because he will stab your back in the end (?)
• long ago, the sun was so hot that it melted the mountains (yikes)
• the lion was the king of beasts (it still is)
• the lion was kind of like a tyrant, wanting everyone to pay respects to him
• the rabbit didn't want to kowtow to him so it made up a lie about a devil chasing it and that it wanted to fight the lion
• the lion saw its reflection and wanted to fight it in the water
• it ultimately drowned

The Story of the Three Hunters.

• the lesson: be the work good or bad, we cannot tell what may be said of it, nor how far its result may spread
• there was a family of 3 brothers and their wives
• their sister lived with them
• they only gave their scraps to the sister, but she was able to make delicious food out of it
• the wive got jealous and conspired against her to kill her
• the youngest wife did not want to partake in anything
• on the way back from the hunt, the brothers found a bird and thought it sounded like their sister
• they told it to hop on their hand if it was the sister and it did, meaning she was dead
• they eventually found out the two older wives killed the sister and thus, the brothers killed the wives
• the youngest wife was shared between the 3 brothers (.... what?)

How the Raven Saved the Hunter.

• the lesson: for a foolish official to speak skillful words is as difficult for lightning to split a lump of bronze
• there was an old man who made his living by hunting
• he was about to drink out of a stream before a raven knocked the cup from his hands
• he got angry and shot the raven
• turns out the raven was trying to save his life bc the water from the stream was from the mouth of a snake

The Golden Squash.

• the lesson: the shepherd will protect his flock of sheep and without power can save a hundred lives
• there lived two men in the mountains who had gardens
• one was inherently good
• the other wanted to be rich
• the inherently good man saved a bird and it gave him a seed to plant in his garden
• the seed turned into a giant golden squash, which helped him become very rich 
• he used his wealth to help others in need
• the other man tried to copy what the IG man did by shooting the bird then "saving it"
• the bird brought a seed that housed a devil
• the devil cut off the man's neck after "weighing him"
• i'm not sure what his weight has to do with his usefulness though

The Man with Five Friends with Different Colored Eyes.

• the lesson: a man who can succeed is always sent; if there is nothing to be done, it doesn't matter who goes
• there was a man whose father taught him to never trust his wife until they had 10 children and to choose friends by their eyes
• they have to have eyes that have a red inner corner, a white sclera, and a black iris
• the man was very nice and had friends with different colored eyes
• he then wanted to test his father's theory by killing a hog and pretending as if he killed a man 
• he told his wife, who ended up calling the police on him and his friends found out
• all of them abandoned him except the man with black irises

The Story of the Violinist.

• the lesson: when the robber arrives, it is very difficult for the traveler to string his bow and carry tea and wine at the same time
• there was a family who had 3 sons
• the youngest son was sent away because he learned how to play the violin, which was a beggar's trade
• on his journey, he stopped a fight between two snakes
• turns out one of them was the king of hell's son
• the violinist was gifted with the king's daughter, who was very beautiful and had powers that gave them whatever they wanted or needed
• he wanted to give a feast to the king but the king stole his wife
• he used his wife's gifts to trick the king and trapped him in hell

How the Sacred Duck Got His Yellow Breast.

photo of ruddy shell duck.

source: tibetbirds

• the lesson: when life ends you may arise and have peace with drama, but nevertheless it's a great calamity when the rock rolls down the mountain and takes your life
• a frog sound a golden pot and the rabbit wanted to fight him for it by racing up a mountain
• the frog used some doppelgängers to trick the rabbit
• the frog won and couldn't bring the pot down, so it asked a duck and gave the duck half
• the duck then smeared it on its chest and that's where the beautiful golden breast came from

The Two Little Cats.

• the lesson: an arrow aimed straight will find the heart of your foe. but if you have no foe it does not matter about the arrow.
• there were two cats who were looking for salt with their tea (ew)
• they ran into a handre and ran away from him and met a cow, a dog a crow, and a snake
• each of the animals helped them get away from the handre

How the Wolf, the Fox and the Rabbit Committed a Crime.

• the lesson: when an evil man gets mad at his enemy, he beats his horse on the head
• a fox, wolf, and rabbit tried to steal stuff from a wizard
• they got some bread, boots, and a bell
• the rabbit tricked the others and took the food
• the others ended up either dying or accidentally scaring their children to death

A Rabbit Story.

• the lesson: the voice of the wolf is a sign to the sheep
• there was a family of bears and rabbits
• the mama bear killed the mama rabbit and the baby rabbit saw and swore revenge
• he shot the baby bear with an arrow and killed him
• the rabbit was helped by a tiger. he ate some roots and gave the tiger some
• the tiger thought it was eyeballs and wanted to eat his own, making him blind
• he killed the tiger and went to the shepherd to tell him to get the carcass
• then he told a wolf to eat the sheets
• then he told the ravens to poke the wolf's babies' eyes out
• then he ran away after causing as much chaos as possible

The Man and the Monkeys.

• the lesson: the male deer from the top of the hill can see afar off. but the goose on her nest thinks only of the egg she covers
• there was a man who came upon the garden of eden and fell into a lake
• the monkeys rescued him
• he then killed them all
• the god of monkeys punished him by turning him into a snake and swallowed him